Barn dance dep

[spikydavid]

I've been recommended by my teacher for a barn dance gig - I know jazz & rock, so what do I need to know before I turn up?

Is there a real book equivalent for trad? Or anything similar?

I'll talk to my instructor too, but any advice will be helpful...

[colgraff]

No idea whatsoever, but I imagine a straw hat and denim overalls are de rigueur.

[Rich]

Root.
Five.
Repeat.


I jest of course. I sat in with OldGit's ceilidh band on occasion and it was a lot of fun.

[Mykesbass]

As Rich says, but also play straight, don't try and swing it. Good fun to play, simple but quick chord changes.

[chris_b]

Get a set list and start working your way through Youtube.

It'll be mostly 2 to the bar and Root and 5. Then maybe a few choice passing notes.

[BassBod]

What Rich said...do it, you'll get paid and have fun watching drunk people fall over. 😜

[KK Jale]

You'll probably find it surprisingly challenging, and lots of fun.

If this is a trad barn dance, you'll be playing mostly tunes with A and B sections that cycle around. If unsure, don't be afraid to sit out a tune as it goes around both sections the first time. Much better to drop in late and get it right than fluff the changes.

If the band's playing 'sets' of two or three tunes in one dance, suss which player is in charge of calling the tunes and watch like a hawk - you might only get a faint strangled grunt of "D!" or "G!" one or two bars before the whole band launches into a new tune in a new key... hit the new root note confidently, and pedal on it until you work out the chord sequence.

Edited April 16, 2016 by KK Jale

[TrevorR]

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1460808201' post='3028950']
Root.
Five.
Repeat.


I jest of course. I sat in with OldGit's ceilidh band on occasion and it was a lot of fun.
[/quote]
[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1460808650' post='3028952']
As Rich says, but also play straight, don't try and swing it. Good fun to play, simple but quick chord changes.
[/quote]
[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1460813609' post='3029013']
Get a set list and start working your way through Youtube.

It'll be mostly 2 to the bar and Root and 5. Then maybe a few choice passing notes.
[/quote]

That sorta sums it up. Check out some reels on YouTube. Stuff like this...
http://youtu.be/gzQAfkctLcM

http://youtu.be/yRs5XbUrApk

http://youtu.be/UW1qd4PtUxM

http://youtu.be/wRVZrvbOEMU

[Happy Jack]

In the main, you need to Allemand left as you swing around, then dos-si-dos your pardner.

Or something.

[JoeEvans]

You need a set list, then go to www.thesession.org and get the sheet music, which should have the chords. Play along to the tunes on Youtube as much as possible, but in the main, root/fifth while you're on a chord and maybe a little run up or down from chord to chord as required will do fine.
I would personally have chord charts with me on the night, even on a music stand if the situation allows - better to look a bit stiff but get the notes right...
It's quite demanding because everyone is dancing and the bass will drive the tune along; miss a note and someone will fall over at the other end of the room!
If it's a ceilidh, the tunes will be played in sets of two or three for each dance; someone in the band will call 'change' or 'last time' at some point in a tune, meaning that at the end of that time around the tune, you go straight on to the next one without missing a beat. It's easy to get thrown off at that point...
You want a fairly soft, deep tone - double bass impersonation is best. Let the people playing the tune drive it along, and just give them a nice reliable backbone.

Edited April 16, 2016 by JoeEvans

[ubit]

The thing is, is it English trad or Scottish ? Because there can be a difference. I found it quite hard to jam along with the Scottish trad at first , purely because I wasn't familiar with the tunes and their make up. Once you get in the swing and know the changes and keys, it's really easy. I'm not so sure about English trad right enough, but I imagine that's also easy once you know the changes. The actual physics of playing are simple but if you play a bum note, it sticks out a mile due to nature of the music. I'd say lean the tunes by ear, so that you know when there's a change. You don't need to learn the stuff note for note.

Edited April 16, 2016 by ubit

[3below]

All good advice above. The majority of songs are in G, D,A and E. There are a few in other keys. Get on you tube and listen for the following genres: Jigs, Reels, Hornpipes, Polkas and Waltzes. They can be English, Irish, Scottish, American but to name a few. That covers most bases apart from one we used to do 3/4, 4/4, 5/4 6/8 transitions in one tune. You will be driving the dance in that people will step / dance to your beat so my advice is keep it simple, light and tight. Most bands use music (or used to when I played regularly in the ceilidh circuit). As mentioned earlier usually two or three tunes with A / B sections repeated then change tune and have a key key changes in a dance.

Edited April 16, 2016 by 3below

[ubit]

As much as I love rock music, I have to admit , when everyone is dancing like hell to a fast moving strip the willow, it's a great feeling to be pumping out a basic rhythm especially when you know when the key change is coming!

[scalpy]

The tunes will look easy but they whip by, and because they are so reliant on D G A it can take a bit of concentration to keep your place. Then, when you least expect, when you're just starting to look up and watch the bridesmaids, there will a Bm and it will be- the hardest chord in the world!!!

[tauzero]

I always used to busk through the ceilidh band gigs, though I did gradually evolve bass lines for everything. You may find the odd one in Em or Am too. And there's one or two in unusual time signatures like 9/8, although I only found that out when I happened across the sheet music.

[Rich]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1460823512' post='3029127']
then dos-si-dos your pardner.
[/quote]
And then the Spanish bloke says, "What the hell does 'two yes two' mean?".

[hubrad]

There are plenty of books (we sell alot of this stuff where I work) and websites with tunes and chords, trouble is everyone plays the tunes slightly differently and with their own chord sequences! If your teacher has recommended you to a gig, either ask for a run-through or two with the band, or arrange to go and see them play, and if they don't already have any recordings make your own so you get to know the shape of the tunes and sets.
Above all, you are the driving bit so keep it simple initially. . you can actually do alot more than most people think but you have to keep the groove!
Ceilidh bands are a heck of a lot of fun, and you'll really get your chops together playing for dancing.
Have fun, and avoid dungarees! :-D

Edited April 17, 2016 by hubrad

[lowdown]

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1460826966' post='3029183']
All good advice above. The majority of songs are in G, D,A and E. There are a few in other keys. Get on you tube and listen for the following genres: Jigs, Reels, Hornpipes, Polkas and Waltzes. They can be English, Irish, Scottish, American but to name a few. That covers most bases apart from one we used to do 3/4, 4/4, 5/4 6/8 transitions in one tune. You will be driving the dance in that people will step / dance to your beat so my advice is keep it simple, light and tight. Most bands use music (or used to when I played regularly in the ceilidh circuit). As mentioned earlier usually two or three tunes with A / B sections repeated then change tune and have a key key changes in a dance.
[/quote]

This really.

If you don't know the tunes, ask the bandleader for a list and keys.
Then do your homework. This is one gig (not any gig really) where you don't want to be dropping out of verses
or peddling notes why you work out chord changes. People will notice, this type of gig people want
a solid foundation for dancing. And you want that call back, don't you?

[ivansc]

This is a bit like traditional country.
Superficially easy till you arrive at the odd "bar of two" in the middle of a four.
Or one-chord transitions.... In both styles, you sorta have to know the tunes or have played an awful lot in the genre.
If you think "simple" rather than "easy" you are on the right track.

And then you move on to Breton folk music....

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1460882474' post='3029450']
And then the Spanish bloke says, "What the hell does 'two yes two' mean?".
[/quote]

Back to back.



It's pronounced doh-cee-doh.

Edited April 17, 2016 by Happy Jack

[JoeEvans]

[quote][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]There are plenty of books (we sell alot of this stuff where I work) and websites with tunes and chords, trouble is everyone plays the tunes slightly differently and with their own chord sequences![/font][/color][/quote]
That's a very good point - it would be worth checking the make-up of the band; if there are any chord instruments in there (guitar, possibly mandolin etc) then go to them for the chords. They will have their own way of playing things and you want to be hitting the right root notes for them...

[Rich]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1460902292' post='3029633']


Back to back.



It's pronounced doh-cee-doh.
[/quote]
Erm yes, I realise that. I'm not as thick as I look.
Perhaps I should have added 'ps. JOKE' to my original post.

[Earbrass]

You'll find a lot of traditional tunes notated on the web in ABC format. This is really handy as there are free utilities out there that will convert these to either dots or MIDI files that you can then play along to for practice, and the ABC files themselves are just text files taking up very little space, so easy to download loads (you'll find some ABC files containing many tunes).

[icastle]

Keep it simple.

Firstly, you're there to provide the rhythm for people to dance to - get the timing wrong and you'll be needing paramedics.

Secondly, play something too complex and I can pretty much guarantee that there'll be an unexpected change and you'll end up somewhere you really don't want to be.

Lastly, if you get too clever early on in a set, where are you gonna go when it changes and you need to up things?

Having said all that, these things are enormous fun even if you feel you have to keep it a guilty secret.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1460923872' post='3029878']
Perhaps I should have added 'ps. JOKE' to my original post.
[/quote]

Eezer good, eezer good, eezer good,
Smilies are good.